Mappin Rack VST in ableton for push

This forum is for discussing the Reason Rack Plugin, the version of the Reason rack that runs as a VST3, AU, AAX in other DAWs.
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electrofux
Posts: 864
Joined: 21 Jan 2015

26 Mar 2024

How do you guys go about mapping the Reason Rack controls to Push knobs in Ableton live?
I know you can hit the configure button and populate the Ableton container with controls but when you save that it only applies to the specific Reason Rack setup i just had. Next time i might load up a different Synth in the Reason Rack and things dont work again right?
Also how about naming banks? Is that possible or am i stuck to bank1 bank2 etc.?

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deeplink
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26 Mar 2024

Not too familiar with this at all, so maybe someone else would chime in.

I would think though that you create and save a dedicated Ableton Rack. Within that rack put in Reason and create a combinator with the same number of macros as your Ableton Rack. Then it's just a case of targeting the combi knobs to whatever instrument, and then will automatically transfer to your Ableton Rack and thus your Push.
Get more Combinators at the deeplink website

electrofux
Posts: 864
Joined: 21 Jan 2015

26 Mar 2024

From what i read an Instrument Rack in Ableton can only have 16 macro controls. That would not be enough for my needs.
Can you use the vst reason racks mapping inside an ableton instrument rack to map all you need and then save the rack? But then what happens if you select the ableton rack, do you have to switch inside the rack to get to the reason racks parameters everytime?

Combinator could be a thing but then you also only got 32 controls and its quite a bit of setup. There must be some best way of doing it.

electrofux
Posts: 864
Joined: 21 Jan 2015

28 Mar 2024

I tried out the latest Ableton 12 Trial to figure out the best way to map the VST Rack plugins parameters to my controllers in Live.
Cant really say it is super satisfying. First i tried to save the plugin container with all mappings as a vst preset but as expected the mappings weren't saved in the preset file (would have been the best way though). Then i encapsulated the plugin container in an Instrument rack and then the mappings made on the contained plugin container were saved in the instrument rack file.
There are still quite a few inconveniences. When you select the instrument rack you first land on the macro layer of the instrument rack itself and have to switch to the plugin layer but that is not that much of a biggie.
Whats more annoying is that the Reason parameters come with the patch name attached in front of the parameter name. I dont know who thought this is a good idea. The parameter names are therefore very long and often the important stuff is cut off AND they change if you switch a patch.
Then there is Ableton not giving you easy access to banks of parameters. I tried the Launchpad Pros and the Akai APC key25 MKII and they both only map the first 8 parameters with no access to a bank forward/backward button or dedicated bank buttons even though there are plenty of unused buttons especially on the Launchpad. And Ableton doesnt provide anything inbuilt to switch banks like for example keyboard hotkeys.
So it looks like delving into python is the only option here and boy compared to Remote the structure of the control scripts is very unintuitive from a hobbyist programmers point of view. Man, i wish RS would integrate Remote into the plugin but thats probably never gonna happen.

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SebAudio
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28 Mar 2024

Remote inside RRP is much needed but as usual, and because only few people cares, it won’t appear. So we’ll have to live with all the problems you’ve mentioned (you forgot the Live bug which makes parameters names generic (« parameter 1000 » & co) when reopening the set).
I rely on using the « template » feature of Live to create « device specific » tracks : I’ve made a template Live set with as many tracks as Reason devices (mainly synths) I want to have « remote » control over. I use the « configure » feature and populate with as many parameters I want from the Reason device. Save the template.
In any Live set, when I want a specific Reason device, I go to the template in the browser and choose the corresponding track or device.
To access more than 16 parameters, your controller have to support banks (which is the case with my sl mk3). Hope it helps !

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